Grandparents spend more than £2,600 a year caring for their grandkids

It’s not unusual for grandparents to take care of their grandkids while parents are at work. Now, a study has revealed that 59% of grandparents are spending thousands of pounds a year on feeding and ferrying about their grandchildren.

Research by SunLife found grandparents provide an average of 18 hours of free childcare a week.

On average, this saves parents £13,500 a year. If grandparents were paid for their help, they’d be on an around £11,000 a year.

It’s getting increasingly harder for parents to afford childcare – the average cost of sending a child under two to nursery part-time is now £7,210 a year, with the full-time average hitting £14,030 a year.  

On top of looking after their grandkids for free, the vast majority (83%) of grandparents spend their own money in the process – around £50 a week on average, which adds up to over £2,600 a year.

Struggling to cover childcare costs?

Help for parents

You can claim child benefit if you’re responsible for bringing up a child who is:

• under 16
• under 20 if they stay in approved education or training

It’s paid every 4 weeks and there’s no limit to how many children you can claim for. Only one person can get child benefit for a child.

If you’re eligible for universal credit, you might be able to claim back up to 85% of your childcare costs – up to £951 back each month for one child or £1,630 for 2 or more children.

In England, you can also apply for free school meals during term time if you get certain benefits.

Help for family members

If you’ve provided care for a child in your family under 12 years old, you could be eligible for national insurance (NI) credits.

These credits help to fill gaps in your NI record if you’ve not been paying for national insurance – for example because you’ve been ill and not working. You need to have contributed NI for a certain number of years in order to qualify for certain benefits and state pension.

You can qualify for NI credits if the child’s parent has claimed child benefit but doesn’t need the credits themselves. But you wouldn’t be able to get credits if, during the same period, you’ve already got a qualifying year of NI, either through other NI credits or by working.

Find out more about whether you’re eligible and how to apply on the government website.

If you’re not sure what financial help you’re entitled to, you can use our benefits calculator or give us a ring and we’ll have a look for you.